Open Letter to ‘The Republican Establishment’ – What the Military and Mainstream Knows About Ron Paul that You Should Learn

Ron Paul’s surge to the top of the polls in Iowa, and increasing likelihood that he will win is causing angst among many of you “Establishment Republicans”. You are quick to try and dismiss a potential win as some sort of fluke, or owing to Independents registering to vote for him. Your typical argument against him is that “Ron Paul is too far out of the mainstream”, and that his rise in the polls could be bad for Iowa’s standing as the first caucus and bad for the Republican party. Let’s address the idea that Ron Paul is out of the mainstream, and by implication, unelectable.

Divide Ron Paul’s positions into domestic and foreign policy. Domestically, Ron Paul is Mr. Republican. As the ideological founder of the Tea Party movement, he has put forward a plan to cut $1 Trillion dollars from the Federal Budget year one, and he has the voting record to make it credible. He has never voted for a tax increase. He has never voted for a program not authorized in the Constitution. He names 5 agencies that he proposes be eliminated: Energy, HUD, Commerce, Interior, and Education as well as the TSA. This sounds radical, but consider that in 1980 Ronald Reagan promised to eliminate the Department of Education if elected. As his plan points out, these cuts would return spending to 2006 levels. So his domestic policies, low and no tax plan, and budget plan should seem like a dream come true for you. Foreign Policy must be where Ron Paul is “out of the mainstream”.

Ron Paul’s domestic policies quickly tie into his foreign policy. He proposes to bring home US troops from all around the world. This he claims, rightly, would be his prerogative as Commander in Chief. Note that this is not a reduction in overall military force, although defense budgets would be cut too, but the immediate savings from eliminating the cost of stationing troops abroad, with all the attendant logistics issues, foreign rents, and base maintenance costs. This is where you “Establishment Republicans” disagree with him. The boogeyman of Iran is constantly floated in the debates, acting as a foreign policy litmus test .